When the house is not your home anymore

This week I had occasion to be working in the "neighborhood" of the home we sold just over two years ago. I drove past on my lunch hour. I wish now that I hadn't.

The beautiful trees that shaded our yard are gone--victims of emerald ash borers--piles of sawdust dotted the lawn from the stump grinders. The grass was completely burned out. The flowers that I had tended so lovingly were thirsty, dead, or not in evidence. Weeds popped out here and there. Obviously these buyers were not at all interested in the outside appearance of their yard.

The house itself looked pretty much the same, but what can you do to a brick home?

The houses on either side had continued to decline. There was a reason we moved--more obvious now than when I was there every day. My comments to the homeowners association have gone unheeded--the feedback from our realtors about the neighbors was not favorable while we were trying to sell.

The house was just another sadly neglected home, looking more so due to the TLC of other homes. It was not our home anymore. We are very much "at home" where we now are. I cannot imagine living there again--even if the houses on either side were being maintained to the neighbor hood standard, they are much too close. It seems small and crowed there now--not because it is, but because my definition of "space" has changed.

It was a house in which we lived. We enjoyed our time there. It met our needs. It is not ours anymore, nor is it of any interest. I sort of feel bad about that, as the house and the land were friends of mine. I felt slightly guilty about digging up starts of my perennials when we were moving--which have done well here by the way. I should have just dug the whole thing up--and not wasted time with tiny delicate starts. It is obvious that the buyers would not have noticed or cared.

Sorry house. Maybe you will have owners who love you again one day--but it was time for us to move on to another home in need of our touch. You will always have my most beautiful bathroom! (No one would be crazy enough to tear that out, and I am not sure I have the energy to invest again in that type of project!!) It will help you sell next time! Maybe the next ones will take care of you like we did! Hope so, because you were once a good friend of mine.